Category: Pets & Animals

We are proud to share with you the award-winning photographs from our third international competition celebrating the very best in documentary family photography!

The guest judges for the Pets and Animals categorywere Dylan E. Richards, Erika Jensen-Mann and Tasneem Alsultan. Each of them evaluated every single submission we received and carefully selected thirty or less of their favourite photographs. Award winners were then chosen by Kirsten Lewis Bethmann, Jenna Shouldice and Ryan Christopher Jones, based on the guest judges selections, during our live broadcast of the final round.

The first 10 photos are ranked from 1st to 10th place. If Honorable Mentions were selected, they are given equal weight in no particular order.

(To see full-size photos, click or tap an image)

1st Place: Pets & Animals by Gareth Mcgaughey, Ireland.

2nd Place: Pets & Animals by Nele Watty, Belgium.

3rd Place: Pets & Animals by Aleks Gajdeczka, United States.

4th Place: Pets & Animals by Karen Osdieck, United States.

5th Place: Pets & Animals by Md Enamul Kabir, Bangladesh.

6th Place: Pets & Animals by Marisa Kraft, United States.

7th Place: Pets & Animals by Sabrina Boem, Italy.

8th Place: Pets & Animals by Terra Fondriest, United States.

9th Place: Pets & Animals by Cindy Willems, Netherlands.

10th Place: Pets & Animals by Cally Neal, United States.

This award cycle was made possible with the generous support of the following sponsors:

Tristan is a documentary photographer based out of Victoria BC where he currently lives with his wife and daughter. Originally from Pennsylvania, he was raised on a biodynamic dairy farm until his family moved to western Canada when he was ten. Attending photography school years later after living overseas, Tristan met his now wife and talented photographer Jenna Shouldice. Together they run their documentary wedding and family photography company out of Victoria and Toronto, serving clients across North America. Tristan has gained international recognition for his photography work and he has spoken and taught about his documentary approach across Canada and the United States. In 2017 Tristan and Jenna co-founded the Documentary Family Awards with Kirsten Lewis Bethmann.